North Macedonia through the COVAX facility will be provided with a total of 103,200 doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of 337,2 million that will be distributed through the global initiative to 145 countries in the first half of 2021.
The rollout could start in late February, according to Ann Lindstrand of the World Health Organization.
COVAX will cover costs of vaccine procurement of 92 poor countries. Others will get them by affordable prices.
Countries will receive doses in proportion to their population size.
India will get the most – 97,2 million, followed by Pakistan (17,2 million), Nigeria (16 million, Indonesia (13,7 million), Bangladesh (12,8 million), Brazil (10,6 million), Kenya (4,2 million), Sudan 93,4 million), Yemen (2,3 million) and Syria (1,02 million).
Of the countries in the region, Serbia is expected to receive 345,600 doses, Bosnia and Herzegovina – 177,000, Albania – 141,600, North Macedonia – 103,200, Kosovo – 100,800, and Montenegro 84,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Venko Filipche announced that vaccination in the country will start in February with 200,000 Chinese vaccines. The date of the rollout is expected to be revealed soon.
As the country is preparing to inoculate the population, the epidemiological situation is stabilizing. On Thursday, 373 new COVID-19 cases were registered out of 2,107 tests. Seven people died in the 24-hour period and 638 people recovered, according to the daily report of the Health Ministy.
A total of 463,957 COVID-19 tests have been conducted since the beginning of the outbreak.
Since the onset of the epidemic, North Macedonia has registered 93,882 confirmed coronavirus cases, while 83,424 patients have recovered.
The death toll has reached 2,900.
At the moment, there are 7,558 active cases in the country.
A total of 560 people are treated for coronavirus-related complications in infectious diseases wards nationwide, the Ministry of Health said in a daily report on admissions in the past 24 hours. Of these, 234 patients are hospitalized in Skopje-based COVID units and 326 in other parts of the country.
While the situation is stabilizing, there has been an outbreak of coronavirus infections at the Nephrology Clinic in Skopje. Namely, 32 medical professionals are infected with three of them being admitted to hospital for further treatment. Despite the outbreak, hospital activities are uninterrupted.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health has received a donation of 60 sets of ventilator equipment, coordinated by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and made possible with financial contributions by the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands, United Kingdom as well as the United States.
This equipment adds to the delivery of 60 ventilators on 30 October 2020, NATO said in a press release.
Next week, the sets will be distributed to local hospitals where ventilators were donated. The equipment will benefit patients in urgent need in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in Skopje, Tetovo, Stip Bitola, Ohrid and Prilep.
